1. The petitioners who are employed as Senior Assistants in the Department of Commercial Taxes in the State of Andhra Pradesh have come up with the present writ petitions challenging a common order passed by the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, in a batch of original applications filed by the 1st respondent in each of these writ petitions.

2. Heard Mr. J. Sudheer, learned counsel for the petitioners, the learned Government Pleader for Services-I (Andhra Pradesh), Mr. P. Suresh Reddy, learned Senior Counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. B. Ranganadh Rao, learned counsel for the original applicants before the Tribunal and Mr. P.V. Krishnaiah, learned counsel appearing for the impleaded respondents.

3. The issue involved in these writ petitions lies in a very narrow compass. A group of persons (1st respondent in each of these writ petitions) who got transferred from various other departments to the Commercial Taxes Department as Junior Assistants way back on 01-01-1996, approached the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, challenging the Seniority List dated 02-12-2009 contending that they should be placed above persons who were appointed directly to t